Samawah is very close to the ancient Sumerian-Babylonian city of Uruk (Aramaic: Erech), which is possibly the source of the name Iraq. After the decline of Babylon following the Seleucid founding of Seleucia, Uruk became the largest city in southern Babylonia, and its name (Erech) came to replace Babili (Babylonia), as the city long outlived the former capital, surviving into the 7th century AD.